Sixty years ago today, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. accepted his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. Now, we must help honor MLK’s vision by staying on the path of peace and justice. These virtues feed each other. Propelling peace results in more justice and vice versa.
King is the world’s most often-referenced Nobel laureate. Tragically, in his birth city, his legacy is often ignored. In history’s most published book, we learn “a prophet is honored everywhere except in his hometown.” Does anyone wonder why King and former President Jimmy Carter, two of the world’s most respected Nobel Peace Prize laureates and peacemakers, are not honored in a very large way at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest? This would boost tourism, the world’s biggest peace industry.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Carter, the 2002 Nobel Peace laureate and our nation’s most productive former president, honored King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, when he proclaimed: “The efforts of Martin and Coretta, although not appreciated even at the highest level of government, have changed America.”.”
King united the global peace movement by linking the East and West. Propelling a new era of transformation, he became the world’s most recognized and accomplished protégé of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of India, the world’s biggest democracy. King delivered an emphatic lesson and warning:
“Gandhi was inevitable. If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable. He lived, thought and acted, inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony. We may ignore Gandhi at our own risk.”
King, the brother of our global family, is Atlanta’s native son. Let us not take him for granted. Remember, by his authority here in the capital of the Bible Belt, we also became a birthplace and mecca for Southern hospitality. We are a beautiful international city that welcomes strangers like good Samaritans. Most of us aspire to love everyone, even those who might not be like us or who might even hate us. King showed us how to love those who are different or would be against us.
King referenced this in his Nobel Peace Prize speech. He said: “I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life.… This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality.… Let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”
Celebrating King’s achievements inspires the next generation to continue striving for peace, justice and equality, which fosters a sense of responsibility and hope among youth. Active and responsible citizens make great cities, states and nations.
King’s Nobel Peace Prize especially recognized his unwavering commitment to his dream of a brighter future. Celebrating him reinforces the importance of peaceful approaches to social change. Those who nurture peace and justice support his dream. What is the dream? We are the dream! We become the dream as we unite to ensure his teachings remain relevant.
Promoting peace and justice brings significant societal and spiritual rewards. Also essential are the economic rewards. Tourism builds peace by connecting people from different cultures. Through tourism, we can better appreciate our commonalities and learn from our differences. Those who promote travel and tourism are vital peacebuilders. Imagine what could happen if King’s birthplace were branded with the virtue of peace, for which he lived and died.
Citizens of Atlanta, in this wonderful 60th anniversary year of King’s Nobel Peace Prize, can we get up and stand up for peace and justice? As individuals, our brother still shows us how. Can you hear King also teaching his own city how to be great? “Everybody can be great ... because anybody can serve.”
Atlanta must fully honor King’s enduring legacy and reaffirm its commitment to his vision of a just and peaceful society.
John R. Naugle is a member of the Gandhi Foundation USA’s board of directors and the author of “The Declaration of Peace Millennium (Years 2000-3000).”
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